The present invention relates generally to a robotic joint movement device and more particularly to a motorized joint for locomotion of a robotic limb.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that it is desirous for robots to have joints that bend and move. Further, these joints must bend and move to simulate human movement. The limbs must be able to distribute the weight as a human limb does. To this end, several attempts have been made to provide for locomotion of a robotic joint that can occur without the robotic device losing balance or being too complicated.
One such attempt is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,425,818, issued to H. Asada et al. on Jan. 17, 1984, for a robotic manipulator. Unfortunately, like much of the prior art, the motor that activates the joints is not placed at each of the joints to be moved. One motor moves several joints.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,283,764, issued to G. Crum et al. on Aug. 11, 1981, is for a manually programmable robot with power assisted motion during programming. Instead of teaching movement of a robotic joint, this patent generally teaches use of a transducer for sensing the position of each joint.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,367, issued to I. Ogawa on Jun. 20, 1978, discloses an articulated robot assembly. In this particular instance, the drive means is achieved by gears activating a harmonic scissor device which in turn moves a roller which moves the robot. No other movement is achieved. Human movements are not simulated.
The toy industry has provided a large number of toys with assemblies that have various degrees of independent locomotion and remote control motion. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,367 discloses a motor in the trunk assembly which is used to drive the transmission of various appendages. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 3,038,275 describes a self-walking doll having motors in each foot which are alternatively driven. However, the prior art has provided no robot assembly which allows the moving part to carry the motor that powers the same part. Also, the prior art has not produced a robotic joint that can have much the same direction movement and control of a human joint.
What is needed, then, is a robotic joint movement device which allows the moving part to carry the motor that is powering the same part. This needed robotic joint movement device must allow the joint to balance the shifting of the weight caused by the motor. This device must also allow for omni-directional pivoting. This robotic device must simulate human movements. This robotic device is presently lacking in the prior art.